


covert operations

by exocat15



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28537026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exocat15/pseuds/exocat15
Summary: taehyung wishes his family were different. he wishes a lot of things were different, actually, but he soon takes that wish back when he becomes entangled in a nightmarish family business scandal that leads to the apocalypse. he, of course, wishes that last part of the sentence wasn't true.





	covert operations

Taehyung stares into depths of his tea, as if desperately trying to read the leaves. He idly picks up the cup and swirls his drink around, watching the leaves spin briefly before settling down. He has half a mind to stick a finger in and fish them out one by one, but he can’t, not here, not now. It would be improper. And his father had taken every opportunity to hiss in his ear about how important it was to please tonight’s guests.

The chatter and chaos of his family’s Christmas party has not spared a single room in the house. Taehyung’s aunts and uncles have crowded themselves in the kitchen, the epicenter of the storm of merriment and general holiday cheer. Small pockets of conversation - some idle chitchat, some serious discussions - float from adjoining rooms. Taehyung takes care to avoid any closed doors, though. He’s nineteen and knows that romantic trysts are happening behind them. His family was definitely large enough for a few extra significant others to slip in without raising much suspicion.

A large hand claps his back, jolting him from his thoughts. Kai, his father’s only brother, grins down at him, his eyes shining far too brightly for sobriety. “Divinating something, Taehyung? Come join us!”

Taehyung dips his head diplomatically. “I was drinking it, Uncle Kai.”

“Nonsense.” In one swift motion, he dunks a meaty finger into Taehyung’s tea, spilling a few drops onto the countertop. “It’s cold!”

“Maybe I prefer cold tea,” Taehyung mutters. Kai ignores him and drags him into the fray by his collar, like a dog. He hates Kai for this very reason- unable to mind his business, unable to take no for an answer. Always having to one-up someone.

He hates his father’s entire side of the family, actually. Nonetheless, he plasters on a smile when he sees them: Kai’s girlfriend Lia, a plump-faced woman who places her hands protectively over her heavily pregnant stomach when someone jostles her; Jade, his father’s older sister, busy wrestling her three sons away from the smoldering fireplace; Mark, Jade’s husband, throwing back a shot and clearly ignoring his wife’s silent pleas for help; Amber, his father’s younger sister, her back turned to them as she speaks on the phone in angry tones; Johnny, Amber’s husband, fully immersed in a mobile game. Taehyung spots a couple cousins lounging on the couches a bit further back, faces that he recognizes but whose names elude him. He’s fairly sure they’re Amber’s, but is afraid to ask. She’d just as easily give him a scolding, and those cousins have shown up to several holiday gatherings at this point. Keeping his mouth shut is the smartest option. Taehyung hopes that being silent will convince these Kims to let him go.

Lia waves to him and he lifts a hand in response. They’re arranged in a circle, as if spectators waiting for the next pair of jousting knights. Clearly, Taehyung is supposed to be the next one-man show.

Kai releases his grip at the edge of the circle, causing Taehyung to nearly stumble over an abandoned plate of half-eaten food. He catches himself before he can faceplant into mashed potatoes and maneuvers himself next to the armchair that Johnny occupies, settling himself on the ground. Johnny grunts and takes a swig of beer, not looking up from his phone.

That’s fine with Taehyung. The less attention they pay him, the faster he can make his escape.

Kai claps his hands, drawing the attention of the whole circle. He flashes another grin at Taehyung from across the circle. “Look who’s decided to step away from the counter and talk to real people for once!”

Taehyung scowls inwardly. He’d love nothing more than to dunk Kai’s face in that plate of mashed potatoes, but instead says, “Nice to see everyone.”

“How’s school?” Jade asks. Typical.

“Good.”

“Details, boy,” booms Mark. He trains his unfocused gaze on Taehyung. “What’s your major again?”

“Statistics,” Taehyung replies quickly, keen on avoiding his uncle’s wrath. “Minor in classics. I took a couple math classes and a writing seminar on politics in Ancient Rome.” He tries to not fiddle with his collar or pick at his sweater or play with the cuffs of his pants.

Mark sniffs. “Statistics,” he repeats. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he gets up from his seat by the fireplace and heads into the kitchen, presumably for another bottle of liquor.

The circle has gone completely silent. Taehyung feels several pairs of eyes on him and fights the urge to launch into a long-winded defense about his choice of study. It was he that was enrolled in university, after all. Not Mark, or Jade, or Kai, or anyone else. His hands unwittingly migrate towards the hems of his pants, uncuffing and cuffing them in an attempt to hide his shaking fingers.

A cousin clears her throat. She’s got pitch-black hair chopped in an uneven lob and a pair of brown corduroy overalls layered over a white turtleneck. A pair of gold-rimmed frames take up most of her face, and Taehyung notices stacks of thin gold rings resting on her fingers as she pushes her glasses up her nose and sits forward. Taehyung digs in the recesses of his memory for her name. Alice? Amy? It’s certain to begin with A. She’s Amber’s daughter, after all.

“Statistics?” she asks, and Taehyung feels like smacking his head against the wall. _Yes, statistics for the last freaking time_ , he wants to say, but merely nods. “Are you going to be a statistician?”

Taehyung pauses to collect himself. “Not really. I’ve thought about being a business analyst in telecom or working in government. I’ve got a friend who’s interning with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, implementing and analyzing census surveys, and she loves it there.”

Johnny grunts again, the sudden low noise surprising nearly everyone. His voice is a gravelly rasp as he puts in, “Gonna need a master’s or doctorate for that, boy. It’s tough work. Takes a crazy long time. I almost gave up, but I guess it was worth it. It is worth it, every time I see my paycheck.”

It’s true. Johnny, for all his gaming tendencies, makes nearly double the amount that Kai, the second-highest earner in the circle, does. They’d all heard the story a million times. Johnny had studied petroleum engineering at a state school out west and taken a job with a mid-size oil company straight out of school. He’d worked for a couple years, gotten himself into debt for graduate school, and returned to that same company, blazing through the executive hierarchy and emerging as a director of the drilling sector of what was now the most expansive oil corporation on the continent. Johnny’s eyes went wide and his grip on his beer went slack every time he told it, as if he was reliving his youth through a film only he could see.

Taehyung sees the Coors in his uncle’s hand beginning to slip as he finishes that little speech. He eases it out of Johnny’s fingers and hands it back to him, letting go only when he’s confident the carpet won’t be soiled.

Alice or Amy or whatever-her-name-is rolls her eyes. “We know, Dad.”

Amber hits her shoulder. “You ought to be grateful. He’s the one paying for the house you live in, the clothes on your back, the tuition that you’re sure to need once you graduate high school-”

“Let it go, Amber,” Johnny orders, taking another gulp of beer. “I hear enough arguing at work. I don’t need it at home, either, and I don’t need it at a holiday party.”

Kai barks a laugh. “Money can’t buy happiness, looks like.”

Taehyung begins slinking away. The sharks have smelled blood in the air, and he wants nothing to do with the impending argument. 

Johnny narrows his eyes, but doesn’t get up from his seat. A muscle twitches in his jaw, as if actively working to bite back words. “Be quiet.”

“Let’s go.” Amber tugs at her husband’s arm, willing him away from the challenge apparent in Kai’s eyes. She shoots a dirty look at Kai. Johnny yanks his arm back and hands her his beer, rolling up his sleeves.

“No,” he growls. “Kim Kai’s been eyeing my paycheck, my position, my company. He’s been yapping at my heels, acting too high-and-mighty for someone about to have a child out of wedlock, and I’m tired of it. My leg’s itching to deliver a good kick.”

Kai grabs an empty vase and hurls it at Johnny. “Bastard,” he hisses.

 _You better keep yourself in line_. His father’s words ring in his head. 

Taehyung ducks as the vase sails over his head, smashing against the wall and falling to the carpet in a shatter of ceramic shards. He hears Lia pleading with Kai, urging him to put the next vase down, hears Kai roaring in anger in response to Johnny’s taunts. He tugs open the door to the backyard and ducks outside, veering towards the large tree planted a couple meters away from the edge of the house. Taehyung hauls himself up the branches, going higher and higher, until the shouts from the house aren’t quite so loud. He picks out his favorite perch and settles against the trunk, the realization that he’ll be stuck here for who knows how long slowly setting in as he stares past the rooftops of his neighborhood, watching dusk fall and the fading streaks of daylight disappear below the horizon. He knows that he’ll be able to sneak in after Kai has undoubtedly broken a few more fragile items and Johnny is undoubtedly sporting a couple new bruises, once their families have broken up the fight. Taehyung breathes deeply and lets go of the leaf he’s been shredding.

 _This family is both the match and the kindling_ , he muses, the lights on the first floor flickering, the screams and yells of domestic strife smashing through the windows and breaking the night’s silence. _Tonight was unavoidable._

a/n: yes it's johnny from nct, kai from exo, amber from f(x), etc

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my idea dump kiddos


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